Fruit and Veg

September's Fruit and Veg Market Report

Written by Tom Moggach September 01, 2013

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For this month only, imagine a Neil Young soundtrack (with volume cranked up) alongside the words of your market report.
Why? Well, this musician was a favourite of a well-respected trader here at Covent Garden. More on him later ….

For British-grown fruit and veg, this is the best time of the year – hence this bumper edition.

Headlines include the start of the apples, the first EVER melon crop from Kent, juicy figs from Essex, and even some ‘Second Spring’ asparagus.

The arrival of ‘Disco’ (Discovery) apples always signals the start of the season. “Growers say it will be a decent crop,” says Geoff Lamb at R Tealing, who is crossing his fingers.

Here’s Beau Hulse, his salesman, with a few of these crunchy beauties:

What beats an English apple? We love them here, which is why I’m just back from Kent, where I visited one of our best growers. (Who also started out as a Covent Garden wholesaler). Read his story in our Grower Profile later this month.

After Discovery, expect Early Windsor, Worcester, Cox and russets before Gala and Braeburn.

In the meantime, you may also find imports from Chile (typically Pink Lady), USA (Red Washington), France (Braeburn, Gala, Granny Smith) and New Zealand (Fuji).

There’s a terrific harvest of British plums, too, as well as their smaller sister - the damson.

As for those Kent-grown melons at S Newman, the first batch was snapped up before I could witness them. Let me know how they taste, if you buy any?

This was the first large-scale melon crop to be successfully grown in this country. You can read more on this story here, and the fruit will also feature in our next Grower Profile.

Black figs are an excellent buy this month. Most are Turkish, or go for the (more pricey) French.

I also spotted a few grown in Essex glasshouses over at S Thorogood & Sons.

Berries are in fine fettle, including British blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries. Gooseberries tend to be on the small size and Scottish. Currants are mainly Dutch, although some homegrown fruit is also available.